Born 80 years ago, on Aug. 29, 1920, saxophonist Charlie Parker inspired ageneration of musicians. But his career also holds lessons for Americaneducation policy, now pointed in a promising direction but facing a backlash.

In many states, reforms focus on tougher academic standards, testing, anemphasis on basics such as math and phonics - and a more rigorousaccountability for both students and schools. While yielding encouragingresults, these measures have drawn furious reaction from prominentpoliticians and those who claim to be educators.

Polemicist Alfie Kohn, author of "The Schools Our Children Deserve: MovingBeyond Traditional Classrooms" and "Tougher Standards," crusades against highstandards, tests and the rewarding of students and schools. The standardsmovement, he says, makes people suffer and has turned teachers into drillsergeants. Mr. Kohn is currently organizing a national boycott of highstandards.

Education administrators are his most receptive audience. Earlier this year,600 "educationists" gathered at Columbia University to discuss strategiesagainst testing and high standards, which they believe are part of aconservative plot designed to slander the public schools and lay thegroundwork for vouchers.

The anti-standards forces, who consider themselves progressives in thetradition of John Dewey, complain that current reforms constitute adrill-and-kill approach. They prefer that children discover things forthemselves. This school of thought believes tests are bad because somechildren, particularly minorities, don't perform as well as others and mightnot feel good about themselves. On both points the experience of the lateCharlie Parker is pertinent.

Parker's virtuosity is evident to the most casual listener and his solos areintricate compositions in themselves. But how Parker achieved such virtuosityis not evident to the casual listener, nor to viewers of the Clint Eastwoodmovie, "Bird" - Parker's nickname.

He was born in Kansas City, home to some of the finest musicians in thecountry. Tenor saxophonist Lester Young and many others found a tough provingground in the famous jam sessions at the Cherry Blossom, Reno Club and theHigh Hat. Here it didn't matter what color you were or how you were dressed,but how you could play. But the standards were high.

Parker listened to this music and tried to learn by observation. Left to hisown devices, he got some of the saxophone fingerings wrong and assumed thatall tunes were played in the key of C. His attempt to solo on "Body and Soul"proved such a disaster that the drummer stopped playing. On another occasion,a cymbal came flying at him.

Parker had failed the test but responded by learning the scales of all 12keys and practicing them for hours daily, even the ones not commonly used injazz. He sought the counsel of Lester Young and learned from his solos.

Parker moved on to standards such as "I Got Rhythm," and "Cherokee," playingthem endlessly until he could hold his own. The hard work and long hours paidoff, and he easily passed the jam session test. His solos became the stuff oflegend and his exalted place in the history of music secure. But had thisgenius been subjected to the counsel of education reactionaries, none of thiswould have been possible.

Young Charlie's belief that all tunes were played in one key would have metlittle objection from those who want children to discover things forthemselves. The jam sessions would have been rejected as too tough a testthat might leave some players distraught.

The low-standards crowd would have encouraged the young musician to feel goodabout himself even after botching a solo, on the grounds that he intended toplay well. And of course, the long hours of practicing scales would berejected as a militant drill and kill that bores the student and quashescreativity.

Charlie Parker shows that natural talent is not enough, that dedication, hardwork and testing are necessary components of achievement. There are simply noshortcuts.

Education reactionaries tell children it's not important to master basicmath, multiplication tables, phonics, spelling and grammar. They shun testsand advance students who don't know them to the next grade on the basis ofsocial promotion. But when those students get to college or the job market,they find what Charlie Parker discovered in those early jam sessions. If youdon't know the basics, you can't fake it.

Reformers, policy-makers and parents interested in the pursuit of excellenceshould take a cue from Charlie Parker. Stay the course of high standards andgong the reactionaries off stage.

Kenneth Lloyd Billingsley is editorial director of the Pacific ResearchInstitute in San Francisco and co-author of a forthcoming study on teacherquality issues.